The White House on Monday accused NBC News of "deceitful" editing of an interview
with President Bush by correspondent Richard Engel. In the interview, Engel asked
Bush about remarks he made before the Israeli Knesset last week in which he accused
his political opponents of saying "we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals,
as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."
Engel asked Bush if he was referring to Barack Obama. As broadcast on NBC Nightly
News, Bush replied, "You know, my policies haven't changed, but evidently the political
calendar has. ... And when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy
Israel, you've got to take those words seriously." The White House objected to the d
eletion of this passage from the president's response following the words, "the political
calendar has:" "People need to read the speech. You didn't get it exactly right,
either. What I said was that we need to take the words of people seriously." Removing tho
se words, Bush counsel Ed Gillespie said, amounted to "deceitful editing to further
a media-manufactured storyline." NBC maintained that the report accurately reflected
the president's comments and that the entire unedited interview is available on
its website. In its own report on the controversy, the Associated Press observed,
"The White House routinely pushes back against news stories it does not agree with.
The one against NBC News stands out for its angry tone and its accusation that the
news division deceptively and deceitfully edited the president's words."